Entries in chairman
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Jim Stratford/ Bloomberg News(ATLANTA) -- A Georgia woman is accusing the chairman of Waffle House, her employer, of demanding that she perform sex acts on him as part of her job's duties over a period of nearly 10 years.

The woman, who ABC News is not identifying due to the sexual harassment allegations, filed an incident report with the Atlanta Police Department that detailed the alleged abuse.

She accused Joseph Rogers Jr. of forcing her to perform "various sexual acts on him as a condition of her employment," according to the police report.

The police report identified Rogers as "a man in his early sixties, who is very wealthy and has extensive holdings in restaurant enterprises and related entities valued at approximately $400 million."

"As part of and as a condition of [victim's] employment, and against [victim's] will, Rogers willfully, repeatedly and with specific intent to harm and oppress [victim] required [victim] to perform sexual services," the police report said.

The woman alleged that she was a personal assistant to Rogers from 2003-2012. She said that in addition to being forced to perform sexual acts, she was required to purchase pornography, lingerie and sex toys for him. She said he touched her inappropriately and made sexual comments to her.

"Rogers treated [victim] as subservient and required [victim] to perform these various sexual acts on him as a condition of her employment," according to the report. "Rogers' conduct toward [victim] was outrageous and offensive and caused [victim] to suffer humiliation, fear, embarrassment and severe emotional distress."

She identified herself as a 43-year-old single mother with a high school education and technical college degree in cosmetology who "managed many of the day-to-day operations of Rogers' estate."

She said that she needed to keep the job to support herself and her son and could not find a job that paid a comparable salary.

The woman said she quit her job this year as soon as her son was financially secure with a full college scholarship.

"On June 29, 2012 she sent Rogers a resignation letter informing him that she could no longer suffer the indignities and dehumanization of his actions," the report said. "She placed the resignation letter in Defendant's sock drawer in an effort to spare Rogers' wife from pain and humiliation."

Neither the woman nor her attorney responded to phone and email requests for comment.

Waffle House spokesman Pat Warner told ABC News that the woman was Roger's former housekeeper and was not employed by Waffle House Inc. Warner also said that earlier this year, Rogers transitioned from Waffle House chairman and CEO to just chairman. He directed further questions to Roger's attorney Robert Ingram who did not respond to request for comment.

"This is a private matter for Joe Rogers and his family and doesn't involve Waffle House," Warner said.

No charges have been filed against Rogers and police are investigating the matter.

ABC/Martin H. Simon(WASHINGTON) -- The U.S. economy is "stronger and more stable" than it was a year ago and the financial stress in Europe is easing, but many challenges remain including adding more jobs for the long-term unemployed and getting the housing market back on track, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in an ABC News interview Tuesday.

"And so yeah, I'm sleeping a little better," he told World News Anchor Diane Sawyer in an exclusive interview. "But again, I think it's really important not to be complacent. We have a long way to go, a lot of work to do, and we're going to keep doing that."

Bernanke, chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve since Feb. 2006, acknowledged that gas prices are a "major problem" but he called them a "moderate risk" in threatening the economic recovery. The national average price for a gallon of regular has risen to $3.92, according to the Energy Department.

Bernanke said higher gas prices may cause inflation to be "a little bit higher" in the next few months and take a bite out of consumer spending, leading to "a hit on growth."

"But at this level we don't think yet that -- particularly given the other good news we've seen in labor markets and so on -- we don't think it's going to be anything that's going to stall the recovery," he said.

He said it's "far too early to declare victory" on a strong economic recovery and the national unemployment rate of 8.3 percent is still "too high."

The head of the U.S. central bank forecasts the unemployment rate will be close to eight percent by year's end, "but that depends very much on how fast the economy grows."

Although the U.S. has seen moderate job growth for the past six months, when Sawyer asked, "What's the one thing that keeps you up at night?" Bernanke pointed to 40 percent of the unemployed who have been out of work for more than six months.

"Those people are obviously facing a lot of hardship," he said.

Bernanke, who was chairman during the financial crisis that began in 2008, described what it felt like to be the only principle policymaker who bridged the administrations of former President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama.

"I was there for the transition, and I was the continuity over that period. And, yes, this has been a very serious crisis followed by a tough recession and recovery," he said. "It's been a long haul certainly."

For 2009, Time Magazine named him the Person of the Year and said he was "the most powerful nerd on the planet."

"I am very proud of my nerd-dom," he said after he was asked if he took offense at the title. "In fact, the world needs more nerds. Nerds, you know, create more jobs and advance science and I hope make good economic policy but that remains to be seen."

With his central role in the U.S. economy, Bernanke has been a target of criticism for the Fed's monetary policies, most recently on the campaign trail. In September, GOP contender Newt Gingrich said he would fire Bernanke if he became president, calling him "the most inflationary, dangerous and power-centered chairman of the Fed in the history of the Fed."

Bernanke said the job of the Federal Reserve "is to do the right thing for the economy irrespective of politics."

"We're not paying any attention to election calendars or political debates," he said. "We're looking at the economy. We want to make the right decision. We want to do it without political pressure, and that's what we're going to do."

Investors have been deconstructing Bernanke's every word, trying to get a sense of whether the Federal Reserve will engage in additional monetary policy stimulus. The central bank's "Operation Twist," which aims to bring interest rates lower through a swap of long-term debt for short-term debt, expires in June. The Federal Reserve previously implemented two rounds of quantitative easing, or bond buying to push long-term interest rates lower, the second of which was introduced in November 2010.

"Well, we don't take any options off the table," he said, when asked if the Federal Reserve could initiate additional economic stimulus. "We don't know what's going to happen in the future, and we have to be prepared to respond to however the economy evolves."

This month Bernanke began delivering a four-part lecture series at the George Washington University School of Business about the Federal Reserve and the financial crisis that emerged in 2008.

"I was a student of the Great Depression as an academic and I think some of the lessons -- the mistakes -- that were made during the Great Depression are very helpful in thinking about our response to the recent crisis," he said. "And I think we avoided some of the most important mistakes."

"Have we hit rock bottom on housing?" Sawyer asked.

Bernanke said the housing market, with home prices near decade lows, remains "a big concern," though there have been a "few signs of progress" including extra building permits and more construction in multi-family housing.

"So there's a bit of a green shoot there if you will," he said. "But you know, we're not really yet in a full-fledged housing recovery. And you know, that will be part of the full recovery of the economy."

Chris Goodney/Bloomberg via Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Citigroup’s Chairman of the Board who took the helms of the bank during the federal bailouts in 2009, is stepping down the bank confirmed on Friday.

Richard D. Parsons, a board member since 1996, will stay until the annual stockholders meeting in April. Parsons has held several positions including President and Chief Executive Officer at Time Warner as well as a White House aide under President Gerald Ford.

"Citi still faces a challenging environment, as do all the large banks, but the crisis is behind us. Given the strong position that Citi is in today, I have concluded that the time has come for me to take my leave. Together with the rest of the Board of Directors, I have complete confidence in the management team, the actions they have taken to strengthen Citi, and the course they have charted for the future of one of the world's truly great financial institutions,” said Parsons.

Two other board members will not seek re-election at the April meeting.

JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images(LONDON) -- In London, they're holding the first BP general shareholders' meeting since the disastrous spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The meeting has focused on the anger felt by many still affected on the Gulf Coast. Mindful of mood, BP Chairman Carl Henric Svanberg addressed the issue head-on. "Everyone at BP is shocked and saddened that this accident happened."

"We will do all that we can to prevent such an accident from happening again, he promised.